Alternative rock band Blessid Union of Souls released “I Believe,” in 1995. Fellow rockers Building 429, helmed by Jason Roy, shared their own version of the track in 2006. Now, both artists are joining forces for a joint version of the song, taking the best parts of both renditions to create something even more powerful than the sum of its parts.
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“I Believe” makes the declaration that love can conquer all. The lyrics confront issues like racism, drug culture, greed, hunger, and violence. According to Blessid Union of Souls frontman, Eliot Sloan, its unwavering love for humanity that can combat these challenges.
According to Sloan, the decision to join forces with Roy was made in an effort to reach as many people as possible with the song’s message.
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“I felt like since we had different audiences that this message could simultaneously reach a lot more people, which is the goal,” Sloan tells American Songwriter. “Building 429 has cultivated an audience of millions of people, as have we, for a couple of decades now so we just wanted to get this version out to as many people as possible.”
“This song is timeless, but now more than ever the concept of love as the answer is even more profound,” Jason Roy adds. “Conflicts in every arena of life have grown to the point where the last option is love. That’s why I’ve always loved the song. Eliot wrote something profound so many years ago and it’s a message we need today.”
The song more-or-less stays true to the original, but adds a more “powerful and aggressive” production style, according to Sloan.
“I think it lends to the strength of the message, and that it needed to be produced this way to express its urgency,” Sloan continues. “With all the events going on around the world, and more since the original version came out, it seemed that the message of love needed to be turned up louder.”
In Building 429’s version of the song, the final verse was cut out. That one day daddy’s gonna find out she’s in love / With a brother from the streets / Oh how he would lose it then but she’s still here with me / ‘Cause she believes that love will see it through, the line reads. In the joint version, that line was added back in.
“I’m so happy for the last verse be included in the song again,” Roy says. “For our version, it was not included because the lyrics made no sense coming from a Caucasian man. That verse meant so much to me and I’m thrilled to now be able to have my voice tied to a song with such a strong message about race in America. What an honor.”
Check out the new version of “I Believe,” below.
Photos courtesy of Eliot Sloan and Jason Roy
